The present invention relates to apparatuses for dividing poultry carcasses to produce front half and back half products.
When processing chicken and other poultry, a two-step procedure is typically used to divide and cut the poultry carcass laterally into a front half product and a back half product. The front half will typically comprise the breasts, keel, wings, and a portion of the back. The back half, or saddle, typically comprises the legs, thighs, and the remainder of the back. In the first (primary) step of the halving procedure, most of the skin around the eviscerated pack is cut and the backbone is at least partially broken, or cut, such that the front half is left hanging from the back half by substantially only a segment of skin tissue (possibly including some meat) extending between the front and back sections of the backbone. In the next (secondary) step, this segment is cut so that the front half is completely separated from the back half of the carcass.
A typical primary halving apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435. Eviscerated poultry carcasses are conducted, in inverted position, through the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 by means of both a shackle conveyor and a screw-type conveyor. Within the apparatus, each carcass is first delivered to an inclined, rotating cog wheel having an array of teeth formed around the circumference thereof. The cog wheel also has a slot provided therein for receiving a stationary severing blade. The teeth of the cog wheel engage the front skin covering the evisceration vents of the poultry carcasses and hold the carcasses in tensioned position such that the stationary blade engages each carcass at the base of the keel and cuts the connecting tissue webs disposed between the breast and thigh portions of the carcass. Following the cutting operation, each carcass is delivered to an inclined, counter-rotating conical auger which engages the enlarged opening formed by the cutting operation and effects a downward bending movement of the front half about a longitudinal guide rod. This bending operation breaks the carcass backbone into two separate pieces such that the front half of the carcass hangs loosely from the back half by means of only a segment of back skin tissue (possibly including some meat) which remains attached to both the forward and rearward backbone sections.
Heretofore, the front and back sections of a xe2x80x9chalvedxe2x80x9d poultry carcass of the type provided by the apparatus and method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 have been separated from each other by simply cutting the segment of skin which extends between the separated backbone sections. Some typical secondary halving devices utilize a rotating circular blade into which the birds are guided. The rotating blade makes a square cut such that none of the connecting skin or meat is left hanging from the back half (i.e., the saddle) of the carcass. Other typical secondary halvers utilize stationary blades which also provide a square cut on the saddle.
Following separation, the front half and back half carcass sections can be processed, as desired, in separate sectioning operations to produce wings, breasts, thighs, and the like. The back half sections are also commonly sold in one piece without further removal and sectioning.
Unfortunately, when poultry carcasses are halved and separated in the manner described above, the segment of back skin in question remains attached to the front half product and is typically not recovered in a desirable manner. Commonly, after the front half of the poultry carcass is subjected to further sectioning operations, the skin and meat attached to the center of the forward backbone section will simply be rendered along with other by-products of the sectioning process.
In addition to undesirably removing all of the connecting skin and meat from the saddle, the secondary halving devices heretofore used in the art typically contact and create forces on the a rib cage of the carcass sufficient to cause some of the ribs to be broken. Such rib breakage detrimentally affects the efficiency of subsequent deboning operations by significantly reducing the amount of rib meat which can be removed as a part of the breast filet.
The present invention provides a secondary halving apparatus which satisfies the needs and alleviates the problems discussed above. The inventive apparatus provides increased leg quarter yield by leaving a flap of skin and meat attached to the back half of the carcass. Additionally, the inventive system applies pressure to the spine of the carcass, rather than the to ribs, so that rib breakage is greatly reduced. Moreover, the inventive apparatus is simpler and less costly than other devices, requires less maintenance, is more reliable, and is significantly easier to clean and sanitize.
The present invention provides an apparatus for cutting poultry carcasses as they are continuously conveyed by a shackle conveyor having a plurality of shackles. The poultry carcasses conveyed to the inventive apparatus have been previously processed such that each of the poultry carcasses includes a back half comprising two legs retained in the shackles and a front half which has been partially cut away from the back half. The back half further comprises a back portion of a spine of the poultry carcass and the front half comprises a front portion of the spine. The front half hangs from the back half by at least a segment of skin extending between the back and front portions of the spine. The inventive apparatus comprises a back rail and a front rail. The front rail is positioned adjacent to the back rail such that a gap is provided between the rails. The gap is positioned such that the poultry carcasses will travel into the gap as they are conveyed by the shackle conveyor. The back rail and the front rail are positioned with respect to each other and with respect to the shackle conveyor such that, as each poultry carcass travels into the gap, the exterior thereof adjacent the spine will contact and slide along the back rail while the front rail will operate to pivot the front half of the carcass backward with respect to the back half to thus place the segment of skin in a peeling position with respect to the front portion of the spine. The apparatus further comprises cutting means positioned for cutting the segment of skin from the front portion of the spine while the segment of skin is in the peeling position such that the front half is separated from the back half and at least most of the segment of skin remains attached to the back half.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon examining the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following description of the preferred embodiments.